


Eighteen

by orochiis



Series: Invisible Ties [12]
Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Angst, F/M, Future Fic, Lucina's birthday, but more fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-10-11 01:00:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10451478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orochiis/pseuds/orochiis
Summary: Lucina travels back home for one day, to meet her counterpart in the timeline she now lives in.





	

"We've received an invitation to go to the palace, dear," Inigo informs, walking into the kitchen.  
  
"Oh? Did father write?" Lucina asks excitedly- despite her age, correspondence from her parents still didn't fail to brighten her day.  
  
"No, your mother. Should you not call him by his name? You're practically the same age now."  
  
"And when was the last time you called Lon'qu by his name?" She retorts, putting one hand on her hip.  
  
"Touché," the mercenary laughs, sitting at the table opposite her, a fond smile on his face.  
  
Usually, inigo is the one to cook, but today Lucina insisted on making vegetable soup- one of the few dishes she can make without burning the house down, and possibly even poisoning inigo and herself while she's at it. So today he admires her as she chops vegetables and measures water- all mundane tasks, he realises, but none the less breathtaking when it is his wife that is doing them.  
  
"Stop staring," she calls, not turning her head from the stove. "It's just soup."  
  
"Sorry, sorry," he laughs, caught out.   
  
She knows this year has been coming though. She herself never had the chance for a fancy eighteenth- she celebrated herself in an inn on the outskirts of Ylisstol, trailing her parents across the land. Morgan would be fourteen now, she realises, and it makes her wonder if her own Morgan will be there. It's been years since they've met- only a brief detour through the Plegian desert brought the siblings together once well over five years ago.  
  
She keeps stirring the soup, and Inigo keeps talking, but she blots out his noise. She'll have to find a dress, she notes, and make sure he's presentable too. She wonders if Severa and Owain have been invited.  
  
"There's a letter from Soleil too," Inigo mentions, possibly for the tenth time, she would never know. "She's the leader of her own brigade of soldiers now. Sophie has the cavaliers and Ophelia is working as Leo's retainer."  
  
"Good for her," Lucina smiles. She always knew her niece would go the furthest. Soleil just didn't have the determination to stick at one thing long enough.  
  
"So, are we going to Ylisstol?"  
  
"Of course. You think I'd turn down an invitation from my parents? It's more of a demand, really."  
  
"We're not supposed to meet our counterparts," he says quietly.  
  
"We'll figure something out. Besides, would you turn down an invitation from your mother?"  
  
"No, but father scares me, so..."  
  
"That's beside the point."  
  
"We'll have to be careful."  
  
"Let me see that," she sighs, abandoning the soup and leaning forward to grab the invitation from his hands. She scans it over, and a smirk appears on her face, and she slams the card onto the table. Lucina points at a phrase triumphantly, and Inigo squints at it in confusion.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Masquerade ball."  
  
"Oh," Inigo says, realisation dawning on him. "Your parents are clever."  
  
"My mother is clever," she corrects. "Father not so much, but she has more than enough brains for both of them."  
  
"I think he's clever," Inigo retorts, sounding slightly wounded.  
  
"He's not stupid," Lucina clarifies, "he just comes nowhere near close to mother's IQ."  
  
And with that, she returns to her soup. Inigo hums over the invitation, and realises that they should probably get in contact with an old friend of theirs.

* * *

It's harder to track him down than they originally though, but between farming and selling in the market, they find him, thankfully in Rosanne, not too far from where they live now. He works in the capital of the small dukedom, at a blacksmith that he runs himself. Inigo isn't sure they will be welcome, but Lucina pushes him into the tiny shopfront regardless.  
  
It's dark inside, and Inigo comments under his breath that it's just like him. The light from the fire and one small curtained window is the only thing illuminating the room. Lucina cautiously approaches the desk, and clears her throat expectantly. From the shadows at the back of the workshop, Gerome lifts his head, pink hair dirty with soot.  
  
"Lucina?" He asks, peering through the darkness at him. "And Inigo. Of course you're here too."  
  
"Who did you expect?" Inigo asks sharply, but Lucina intervenes.  
  
"It's nice to see you again. We're living not too far from here, actually! Just over the hill." She gestures vaguely, but he's not impressed.  
  
"Why didn't you visit, then?"   
  
"We-"  
  
"Doesn't matter. I've been doing well, and I'm sure you are too. Is there anything specific you came for?"  
  
"Yes," Lucina sighs. It's just like him, as Inigo already stated. Straight to the point and annoyed about their lack of contact. He shouldn't take it personally, she thinks- they haven't seen most of those they travelled back with. But if course, he wasn't to know that.   
  
"Remember that mask you made me?"

* * *

"Father, I really do appreciate-"  
  
"Hush, Lucina. You already told us," Chrom interrupts, finishing fixing the decorations he's been hanging up all morning.  
  
"But you keep interrupting me!" She says, stamping a foot to get his attention. He sighs and comes down the ladder, placing his hands on her shoulders.   
  
"Lucina, we have been listening. Both your mother and I know this isn't what you want, but it's not-"  
  
"Don't you dare say it's not about me! It's my birthday, father!"  
  
"I wasn't," he soothes. "It's a state requirement. Both I and Lissa and Emm had to go through the same ordeal- it's to show off the new royals because they are of age."  
  
"So this is basically so you can marry me off?" Lucina says, glaring up at her father. Unfortunately for her, he's already had to deal with nearly eighteen years of angry Lucinas glaring at him, so he is entirely unfazed.   
  
"Lucina!" Her mother calls, storming into the room. For once, she is free of her cloak, wearing a formal dress especially for this event. "I wish you would stop complaining."  
  
"I wish you wouldn't make me go through this," she mumbles, although Robin hears her.   
  
"Go and get ready." There's no arguing with Robin's tone, so Chrom lets go of Lucina and she flies out of the room, making her anger known. Robin crosses to Chrom with a sigh, leaning against his chest. "What are we going to do with her?" She sighs.  
  
"The other Lucina was never this huffy, was she?"  
  
"The other Lucina had a dragon to fight. There was no time to huff."  
  
"You're right. Lucina has her moments though. She's happy, which is more than I can say for the other Lucina at her age."  
  
Robin sighs, and pries herself off him. She leaves her hand on his and leads him along. He's not sure where he's being lead to, but when they end up outside Lucina's room he lets out a sigh in annoyance.   
  
"Fix this," she encourages. Chrom sighs- teenage girls were never his forte, not even when he was a teenager himself. Robin was the only teenage girl he had ever managed to talk to, aside from those he was related to, and it was lucky for him that they fell in love so fast.  
  
He knocks on the door softly, and after no response he knocks again, slightly harder. This time, Lucina mumbled something incoherent. He doesn't want to walk in in case she is actually doing what her mother told her and getting ready, so he calls to her.  
  
"Can I come in?" There's no answer again for a minute, but then the door opens and a tear stained Lucina looks back at him. She moves out of his way to sit on her bed, and he perches beside her, rubbing his temples.  
  
"I understand that this wouldn't be your first choice of event," Chrom starts, carefully so as not to upset her more. "But I promise you, it'll be better than you think. Most people who are coming probably won't want to talk to you, and you'll be able to see all your friends. I know you don't get to see them often."  
  
"Are they all coming?"  
  
"Owain, Brady, Gerome, Noire, Nah, Yarne, Inigo, Kjelle... And of course Morgan will be there."  
  
"Will you be there the whole time? And mother?" She asks.  
  
"Yes. So if you need either of us, come and find us."  
  
"Okay," she agrees, her voice shaking a little. "Can you send mother in to help me dress?"  
  
"Of course, my princess." He plants a kiss atop her head, pleased that he had managed to calm her down. Lucina was nervous about most social events, and there didn't get much bigger than this. "And by the way, this has nothing to do with marrying you off. I didn't meet anyone at my party that i would've considered marrying. I didn't meet your mother until the year after. You're free to choose to marry whoever you want. Unless, of course, i don't approve," he jokes, until he sees the horror on Lucina's face. "Calm down, I'm not being serious."  
  
He gets up from the bed and heads towards the door. Robin is waiting a little ways down the corridor and he sighs as he makes his way towards her. She has that smirk on her face, the one she wears when her tactics go her way.   
  
"Well?"  
  
"She wants to see you to help her dress."  
  
"Oh good. I'll see you later then. And you need to dress yourself too."  
  
"See you later, my love," he mumbles, planting a kiss on her forehead.

* * *

Lucina and Inigo sit in a horse drawn carriage travelling at top speed towards Ylisstol. Lucina is constantly smoothing out her dress, straightening her mask and fiddling with her updo, making strands of it fall out. Inigo, on the other hand, is completely relaxed, breathing in the atmosphere of the city at this most exciting of times. He knows how much this event meant to Lucina as well- it's like her eighteenth birthday, though it comes many years too late. She sighs as they pull into the castle gates, invitation in hand. Inigo holds her hand tightly as they walked up to the palace doors. Lucina hands her invitation across, and the two of them walk into her old childhood home.  
  
Robin is there almost immediately at their side, embracing her daughter and son-in-law in her arms. Chrom appears then too, and to take them both by surprise, so do Lon'qu and Olivia. Out of the corner of her eye, Lucina spots her younger self, hovering nervously by the champagne table. Kjelle is with her, talking almost animatedly about something or other that Lucina is too far away to hear.  
  
"Happy birthday," a voice comes from behind her, and Lucina spins around to see Morgan, dressed in his formal Plegian robes. She practically throws herself at him, her younger brother, who shes all but lost contact with.   
  
"I haven't seen you in so long! Thank you," Lucina mumbles, her sentences coming out in all the wrong order. "I miss you a lot."  
  
"You should visit sometimes. I don't have an excuse to visit you ever."  
  
"Then you should make one, little brother," Lucina jokes. She turns to her father, tying her fingers in knots. "Should i introduce myself to the birthday girl?"  
  
"I'm sure she'd love birthday wishes from the great war hero, Marth," he smiles, and she nods.  
  
"Is that what she knows me as?"  
  
"We thought it was the best way to refer to you since you picked that name for yourself."  
  
"I just thought it would give me strength."  
  
"You're strong enough without it. Now go, and take 'Laslow' with you."  
  
She grabs her husband by the hand and leads him towards where Lucina is waiting, explaining Chrom's plan to them. As they approach, the Inigo in this timeline walks up to Lucina, and the masked couple look to each other in a knowing smile. They look so similar to the way they did back in the past, before Grima destroyed everything. They look as happy as they were when they came to Ylisse and saved it from their own fate.   
  
"Uh," Lucina starts, getting the other twos attention. "Happy birthday, Lucina." That was a sentence she never thought she'd say.  
  
"Birthday wishes from the both of us," Inigo says, stepping in front of his wife.  
  
"Thank you," she says, slightly bewildered.  
  
"Do you know them?" Inigo asks, whispering into her ear.  
  
" _Do_  i know you?" She asks.  
  
"We've never met before, but I've heard you know a lot about me." She holds a hand out for the younger princess to shake. "Marth."  
  
Lucina extends her hand slowly, her eyes wide with admiration. Inigo's mouth forms a small 'o', and when the two Lucinas shake hands, the elder Inigo offers his hand to his younger counterpart. He shakes it warmly, trying to figure out who the masked man is.  
  
"They look like the masks Gerome makes," he comments absentmindedly. Lucina freezes for a second but Inigo acts quickly, unhooking the mask from his head.  
  
"Who's this Gerome? If he makes good masks, maybe I could get him to replace this one."  
  
"I doubt he does commissions, dear," the elder Lucina offers, causing young Lucina to giggle.  
  
"He's not the sort," she agreed.  
  
"Wait," says the younger Inigo, narrowing his eyes at Lucina's hand. "Are you two married?"  
  
"Yes," Lucina says, self consciously putting her hand behind her back.  
  
"What's your name?" Inigo asks the older man, who sighs.  
  
"Laslow."  
  
"Marth and Laslow," he pondered. "Rolls off the tongue." 'Laslow' leaned into his ear.  
  
"Almost as good as Lucina and Inigo, don't you think?"  
  
His face lit up bright red, a symbol of his embarrassment. He took a step away, shaking his head. Laslow raised an eyebrow, and Inigo eventually came around, shrugging his shoulders.   
  
"Follow your dreams," Laslow commented. "If i can marry a war hero, you can get a princess, don't you think? We're more alike than you know."  
  
"How _do_ you know so much about me?"  
  
"Im... Very good at reading people."  
  
"Maybe I'll ask her later," he nods, encouraged.   
  
"You do that."   
  
"It was lovely to meet you, Marth. I didn't realise father and mother were still in contact with you!" Lucina says, her eyes still sparkling with excitement.  
  
"They've been to visit a few times. We live in Rosanne."  
  
"I always wondered why they went there when theres nothing really there."  
  
"Apart from us," Lucina jokes.  
  
"We'll let you get on with your celebrating," older Inigo comments, winking at his younger twin.  
  
"Yes. I hope you have a wonderful day."  
  
Younger Lucina watches them as they disappear into the crowd, and turns to her Inigo, who is now standing with his face in his hands, embarrassed at the implications Laslow left him with.  
  
"Is something troubling you?"  
  
"Just something that man said."  
  
"He seemed nice."  
  
"Oh really? That's good."  
  
"And I finally met Marth! I mean, i know she's not _the_ Marth, but she saved father's life multiple times during the war. She's probably the best fighter Ylisse has ever had!"  
  
"I'm glad you enjoyed meeting her," Chrom comments, appearing beside his daughter without her even noticing.  
  
"Father, that was possibly the best birthday present you could've got me," she gushes, and Chrom can feel tears spring to his eyes.  
  
"Well, it's not the only present you've got, but you'll just have to wait until later to get them."  
  
"Thank you, father," Lucina said, hugging him in a way he had never expected to receive today.  
  
"It's no problem. Lu- Marth was more than willing to come. You two share a birthday, you know."  
  
"I must find her and wish her a happy birthday in return!"  
  
"Off you go, dear."   
  
Chrom watches fondly as Lucina scampers away, through the ever changing sea of people. He smiles as she passes her mother, who makes her way towards him, one eyebrow raised. She latches onto his arm and leans into his side, a warm smile on her face.  
  
"What was all that about?"  
  
"Lucina met Lucina."  
  
"Ah, so your plan paid off."  
  
"They seemed to be getting along very well."  
  
"Well, they would have exactly the same personality, so that probably explains it," Robin joked.  
  
"Have we done a good job with our kids?" Chrom asks, a hint of worry in his voice.  
  
"I think we have."   
  
"Good. Because one day, we'll have to leave Ylisse in their hands."  
  
"They're more than capable, darling."  
  
"What about Soleil?" Chrom points out.  
  
"With a proper state education she'll turn out to be a proper lady. And if not... Well, Ophelia could always step up to the mark."  
  
"We don't have to worry about that just yet, though." He presses a kiss to the top of her head, casually putting his arm on her shoulder.  
  
"Of course. Because i don't intend on leaving you again for a long time."

**Author's Note:**

> I want to thank everyone who's read Invisible Ties since the start because it's now a ridiculous length. I'm mostly done with Chrobin for now, though I definitely will come back to it at some point. Thanks again for reading and I hope you enjoyed this final part!


End file.
